DoorLoop vs Innago 2026: Paid Polish vs Free Functionality
DoorLoop charges per door for a polished, full-suite product. Innago is free and covers the basics. Here's which one fits which operator — and where both quietly break.
DoorLoop is a polished, per-door paid suite that lands well at 15–75 units. Innago is genuinely free for the landlord, monetized through tenant-paid fees, and works for 1–25 doors when your workflow stays simple. Past 30 doors with multi-owner accounting, both start to wobble for different reasons.
This isn't a "free vs paid, you get what you pay for" cliché. The pick depends on portfolio shape, who pays the processing fees, and how much accounting depth you actually need. Below is the side-by-side, with the gotchas neither vendor leads with.
TL;DR verdict
- Choose DoorLoop if: you manage 15+ doors, want a single polished tenant and owner portal, need owner statements that look like owner statements, and you're comfortable with per-door pricing tied to portfolio size.
- Choose Innago if: you have 1–25 units, you're a self-managing landlord (not a third-party PM with owner reporting obligations), and you can live with tenants paying card/ACH fees instead of you.
- Choose neither if: you're 30+ doors managing other people's properties — neither has the trust-account discipline that third-party PM regulators expect, and per-door math on DoorLoop starts looking like an AppFolio quote without the AppFolio depth.
Pricing structure
DoorLoop publishes tiered per-unit pricing with a starter floor; Innago publishes "free" and charges tenants per transaction. The shape of the cost matters more than the headline.
| Plan / item | DoorLoop | Innago |
|---|---|---|
| Base subscription | Starter tier flat up to a unit cap, then per-door | $0 for the landlord |
| ACH / e-check | Per-transaction fee (low single digits) | Tenant-paid flat fee per ACH |
| Card payments | Percentage of transaction | Tenant-paid percentage |
| Application screening | Per-application, usually rebillable | Per-application, tenant-paid by default |
| eSignature | Bundled credits, then per envelope | Included |
| Listing syndication | Included | Included (lighter network) |
Where the bill actually shows up:
- On DoorLoop, the landlord pays the platform fee. ACH is cheap per transaction, cards are the expensive lane. At 25 units the all-in stack typically lands in the $300–$500/mo range once add-ons settle. At 75 units, $900–$1,400/mo. Get any verbal discount in writing.
- On Innago, you the landlord pay $0 in subscription. Tenants pay a flat ACH fee (often $2–$3) or a card percentage. Some tenants resent this — check your state's "convenience fee" rules before assuming you can pass it through cleanly.
So "free" is real for you and not free for the tenant. That's a fair trade for some portfolios and a relationship problem for others.
Features that actually matter
Trust accounting and owner statements
- DoorLoop: Supports multi-owner accounting, owner draws, holdbacks, and reasonably clean three-way reconciliation. It is not as deep as Buildium, but it produces owner statements you can hand to a CPA without an apology.
- Innago: Single-landlord bookkeeping. There is no real concept of "owner" as a separate entity from "landlord." If you manage units for third parties, you will hit this wall fast.
Edge: DoorLoop, by a wide margin, the second you have more than one beneficial owner.
Tenant experience
- DoorLoop: Modern mobile-first portal, AutoPay, document signing, maintenance with photos. Tenants who use it generally do not complain.
- Innago: Functional portal, mobile app, AutoPay. Less polished, but tenants get the job done — and pay the fees, which is a UX cost that gets undercounted.
Edge: DoorLoop on polish, Innago if your tenants do not mind the fee structure.
Leasing and screening
- DoorLoop: Built-in screening (TransUnion-backed), state-aware lease templates, eSign bundled with credits.
- Innago: Built-in screening (also TransUnion-backed for credit), eSign included, simpler templates. Tenant pays for the application by default.
Edge: Tie for outcomes, Innago for cost-per-applicant if you do not screen heavily.
Maintenance
- DoorLoop: Vendor portal, work-order assignment, owner-visible status, photo attachments. Mature.
- Innago: Basic work-order tracking and tenant submission. No real vendor portal.
Edge: DoorLoop the moment you have outside vendors and want a paper trail.
Reporting
- DoorLoop: A library of built-in reports, exportable, owner-statement customization. Hits a ceiling around 50–75 doors with multiple owner entities, but covers most independent PMs comfortably.
- Innago: Core landlord reports (income, expenses, rent roll). Customization is thin. No owner packets in the PM sense.
Edge: DoorLoop.
Bank and accounting integrations
- DoorLoop: QuickBooks Online sync on higher tiers, CSV exports for accountants.
- Innago: CSV export. No native QBO sync as of 2026 publishing.
Edge: DoorLoop, especially if your CPA lives in QuickBooks.
What both don't tell you
- DoorLoop's "white-glove onboarding" is a setup call plus a CSV import. If your data is messy at your old tool, expect to clean it yourself. Budget 3–6 weeks for a real go-live at 50+ doors.
- Innago's free price tag has a tenant-experience cost. Every ACH fee is a small friction point at rent time. Some tenants will absorb it; some will ask you to absorb it; some will write you a check to avoid it. Plan for it.
- Neither is a third-party PM tool in the regulatory sense. State trust-account rules vary, but if you manage other people's units in CA, FL, TX, or any state with PM licensing teeth, validate the trust workflow with your broker before signing.
- Pricing on DoorLoop above the starter tier is negotiable and varies by quote-date. The published number is a ceiling, not a floor.
Decision matrix
| If you are… | Best choice |
|---|---|
| 1–10 doors, self-managing, cost-sensitive | Innago |
| 10–25 doors, self-managing, want polish | DoorLoop |
| 25–50 doors, multi-owner, third-party PM | DoorLoop |
| 50+ doors, multi-owner, deep accounting needs | DoorLoop or step up to a PM-grade suite |
| Tenants will resent paying ACH fees | DoorLoop |
| Hate per-door pricing and want flat math | Flat-priced platform |
If the per-door math on DoorLoop is the thing keeping you on Innago longer than you should be, that's the structural tradeoff the flat-priced category solves. Proprietio is one option in that lane — flat monthly, no per-door fees, built for mixed portfolios.
FAQ
Is Innago really free or is there a catch? Genuinely free for the landlord on subscription. The catch is that tenants pay payment processing fees. If you have a tenant base that pushes back on fees, you'll end up subsidizing it.
Can I migrate from Innago to DoorLoop later? Yes. Export tenants, leases, financial history, documents as CSV. Plan 2–4 weeks of cleanup at 25 doors. Trust-account migration is the part to do with your accountant, not solo.
Does DoorLoop handle commercial leases? It can hold one, but it does not have a real commercial workflow — no CAM reconciliation, no percentage rent, no escalation clauses. Mixed portfolios will feel that gap quickly.
Which one is better for a brand-new property manager? DoorLoop if you have 10+ doors from day one and owners to report to. Innago if you're a landlord with your own units and want zero subscription before you've built the business.
Run mixed portfolios? Try Proprietio free for 15 days — residential, condo, and commercial in one workspace, no per-door fees. proprietio.com